The present invention relates to a extremely versatile combined valve and flowrater that can be used in a plethora of HVAC situations including for changeover operation, heating and cooling modulation and energy monitoring and control. It provides system simplicity and energy efficiency.
Current HVAC systems employ multiple heat transfer surfaces in order to recover energy, preheat, heat, cool and dehumidify the supply airflow. Each of these heat transfer devices impart air friction, and in turn consumes fan energy. By using a single heat transfer surface for heat recovery, preheat, heat and cool, there is a reduction in the quantity of devices, air friction and resultant fan energy. The current invention results in a new type of valve which can allow multiple piping systems to share the usage of a common coil. The valve will allow hot and chilled water piping systems with the same type of fluid to utilize a single heat transfer device. The valve will combine numerous functions into a single valve which has not heretofore been done.
Henceforth, combined changeover and control valve combined with a flowrater would fulfill a long felt need in the HVAC industry. This new invention utilizes and combines known and new technologies in a unique and novel configuration to overcome the aforementioned problems and accomplish this. This new valve will allow buildings using hot and chilled water distribution systems to have improved efficiency especially if lowering the conventional return hot water temperature from 160 down to below 100 deg F. In air handling units, fan energy is reduced as there is only a single coil providing both the heating and cooling functions.